captain, derek jeter. >> i thought you meant it. i hope even more. what did you learn? >> chuck todd, political journalism, dan balls, political journalism, and mike barnicle. >> exactly. >> come on. >> also, if you've got time today, newyorktimes.com, a great article. the presidential fight goes buffalo springfield on us. you know this is my favorite thing to quote. there's something happening out here. what it is, ain't exactly clear. but one thing for sure, president obama's team is clearly starting to act like any structural ang they thought they had is eroding. and that turns up the heat on tomorrow's debate.

connecting with questionnaires, getting this idea that he can handle real people, can the president get people to give him another look? a case can be made. this debate is now the most crucial with next week's. plus, four races that tell a story of not just big money but also a clue about which party can claim victory in november even if control doesn't necessarily change hands. good morning from washington. it's 22 days until election day and it's monday, october 15th, 2012. i'm chuck todd. for a few of you, it's another irs deadline. let's get to our reads of the morning. with three reads to go, tomorrow's town hall debate in new york could be a turning point for romney it's an opportunity to clear what has been his biggest hurdle, the likability problem. understand the problems of regular people. meanwhile, the president badly

needs to reverse the momentum which is looking more and more like a coin-flip race. no more agendas. the buts are eroding. and the president is in virginia where he will remain until he arrives in long island tomorrow. a half hour trip sunday to a local campaign oh office he delivered pizzas and made phone calls to volunteers. >> i wanted to call and say thank you. i'm over at the williamburg office and i know you have been working so hard for the campaign. >> senator john kerry who is playing romney in the debate prep has been spotted carrying a massive binder, multicolored tabs. the presidential campaign says that we will find an aggressive president in round two.

>> ed gillespie responded so that on fox. >> even if he changes his style, and whatever political tactic the president settles on is being in the best interest, he can't change his record and he can't change his policies. >> romney has hunkered down at home in massachusetts after a weekend swing in which he claimed what he called a kresh shen doe of enthusiasm for his campaign. >> about a week ago i had a debate and i did enjoy myself. you know, sometimes in debates the moderators are jumping in and asking questions to try and get you off track but this moderator let us speak about issues that people care about. >> tomorrow night will be the first time that romney and the president engage each other over libya, by the way, since state department officials testified last week. the one new member of the president's debate team is deputy national security advicer ben adviser ben rhodes.

they are still trying to explain these comments that the vice president made about benghazi. >> we did not know that they wanted more security. >> of course, those comments directly contradicted state department officials and last week biden was speaking only for himself and the president. on sunday, the advisers were still trying to explain that away. >> what he was talking about was what he, the president, knew because these matters were being handled at the state department. >> security requests at our embassies and buildings throughout the world obviously go to the state department. that's -- those are the people who should be making those decisions. >> so technically the vice president was correct. but was he speaking more broadly in a correct way? also on sunday, lindsay graham went to another level on this. he accused the white house of an

actual cover up. >> senator corker and i were told within 24 hours that communicated up to washington that this is a terrorist attack. they are trying to sell a narrative, quite frankly, that the mid-east, the wars are receding and never believed the media would investigate. congress was out of session and this caught up with them. >> ed gillespie did his best to drive a wedge between the white house and secretary clinton. >> what we've been seeing is an effort by president obama and vice president biden to say that it was really sect clinton, it was the state department that you ought to be looking at. >> well, that is true. every time you ask the white house about this, they say. >> you've got to talk to the state department about these security concerns. no evidence, yet, that there's a wedge between secretary clinton and the president. she's headed to peru but i have

a feeling she'll be doing interviews within the next 24, 48 hours on the various televisions. paul ryan starts his day with a rally this hour in waukesha, wisconsin. but at noon he'll be back in cincinnati for a rally. not a day has gone by without a stop by ryan or romney in the buckeye state. he visited a soup kitchen in youngstown where he held a town hall. romney held rallies in lebanon, ohio. >> i need you to get other people that voted for barack obama to join our team. we need ohio. if we get ohio, we'll be able to take back america. >> but can romney win this election without ohio? this was ohio senator's rob portman's take on sunday. >> look, you can probably win the presidency without ohio but i wouldn't want to take the

risk. no republican has. >> well, let's look at the map. we might as well. rob portman asked us to do it so let's do it. let's give the president ohio. that puts him up to 255. the two other states where he's ahead, that means he would win florida, all of the southern states. he's at 248. give him the west, colorado, nevada, he is still short and needs to find seven others. right now the president is ahead in wisconsin and i haven't seen evidence otherwise. the president appears to be ahead in new hampshire. so look what that leaves us. 269. well, i'll be darn, look how close that is. he can get to 269. he can get there. he'd have to somehow win new hampshire or ohio. this gets very tough without ohio. this sort of upper tier connection there. new hampshire, wisconsin, ohio, those are the three states where it's my understanding that the

president has not seen his lead erode down to dead even. all of the other states after the debate, romney has pumped up to either make it even or even take the lead in a place like, for instance, florida or virginia. all right. the obama campaign is leaving nothing to chance. the boss will hit the buckeye state for the president this week. bruce springs teen will team up with former president clinton for a rally on thursday. the boss will also campaign that day in ames, iowa, following the trip to iowa. springsteen isn't the only star weighing in for the president. both campaigns are up with new ads. the president's spot challenges his voice by morgan freeman. >> every president inherits challenges. few have faced so many. four years later, our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home.

>> a new romney clip ad uses a clip from the vice presidential debate featuring a laughing biden while paul ryan talks fiscal discipline. >> do they come in and inherit a tough situation in absolutely. but we're going in the wrong direction. look at where we are. >> and finally, two new polls of likely voters have this looking more and more like a coin-flip race. no more buts. that shrinks to one point, 49/48 in a battleground poll. the two surveys show different results out of the battleground states. a poll shows president obama up five, 51/46. romney is up two points. and we'll have to see by how much, it's clear that the first debate did help romney, particularly under the likability poll. 8% say the same of the

president. in the gw survey, 34 say they are more likely. 13% say that they are less likely. voters are seeing romney as more likeable. 62% of romney supporters say they are enthusiastic to vote. up ten points from before the debate. those numbers are held steady. still, the portland has some things going for him in both of these polls. his job approval is at 50% in both surveys. and more voters think the country is headed in the right direction. 42% in the post poll. the president and romney are neck-and-neck on who is better equipped to manage the economy. romney is 49/47 in the gw survey. both sort of paint the same picture. all right. president obama is staying out

of sight. they are focusing less on substance and more on style. joining me on behalf of the obama campaign, mr. mare, you are not shy. i've moderated a town hall with you, actually, during the convention. you weren't shy at all. what's your concern about the president? if you were giving the president advice, what would you be telling him? >> don't overcorrect. you can over correct. the president has severe ring rust you know what it's like being around the president. he's really not accustomed to people talking to him the way romney did after three years of running the country. i compare it to the ali fight of

1971 and frasier knocked him down. history remembers winners. he can overcorrect and he needs to predict not his likability so much. it's a very important quality but the president will do what is needed. that's why he's been down for the last few days. he understands that this is important. and it's really important to the base, chuck. while i think the president did an outstanding job on the facts, you know, the base has to be turned out and the base has to be excited. i think the president is going to do what ali did and do what is necessary to win. >> if the president is going to have a good night? >> no. the president just has to be

there, very sharp on all that he's accomplished and needs to explain it in detail. mitt romney wants to play fantasy football with the economy. you've now had a debate where mitt romney and his partner, paul ryan, said that he would not add new revenue. they are both on television saying, no new revenue. not new revenue if you offer ten cuts. they both pledge allegiance to norville norquist. he has to make that clear because we can't solve a $4 trillion problem with no new revenue. you can't have the kind of future that we need to have. >> i hate to be a cinic here, but do you think it's for the president to say here, you seem like you are following walter monday dale. the difference is that i will at least tell you. do you think in the past, being the loen candidate to say, i am going to raise some taxes has

not always worked. >> no. the president is nothing like walter mondale. consumer confidence, according to the university of michigan, is at an all-time high. folks are down t foreclosures are at an all-time low. economics took us to the point where we are and if you're miserable and in a tough position right now, it was actually george bush's policies that are very similar. in fact, mitt romney's policies are george bush's policies on turbo. he wants to keep all of the bush tax cuts and then he wants to add a 20% tax cut that applies to everybody. let him defend that all night. let him expand the math. because while he might be able to do it on tv because of videotape, we'll be able to prove what he said is not true. >> mr. mayor, there is a georgia

poll, 51/53 romney? >> no, about 51 romney, 47, 48 president obama. >> you think there is a little more of a hidden democrat vote there? >> no question. i think it will be closer. president obama got 48% of the vote in 2008. the numbers are going to be pretty consistent in the upcoming election. >> really, kasim reed, mayor of atlanta, thank you for coming on. >> thank you for having me, chuck. all right. we're hearing from a romney advic adviser jim talent, next. plus -- >> i lead with a great optimism for our country and continuie vital role of our democracy.

>> one of the long-time impactful senators of his generation, remembering the late pennsylvania senator arlen specter. first, a look ahead at the schedules of mitt romney and president obama today. as you know, they are both holed up in the debate camp. you're watching the daily rundown, only on msnbc. [ humming ] [ humming ] [ male announcer ] kraft macaroni & cheese. you know you love it. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking.

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the u.s. consulate in libya and republican allegations of a

coverup. >> when something goes bad, they deny, deceive, and delay. the truth is, we aren't safer. al qaeda is alive, bin laden may be dead but al qaeda is alive and they are counterattacking throughout the region. >> the way that we're doing it is based on a campaign schedule and trying to give romney some talking points but i don't think men who were killed deserve this. >> joining me now is former senator jim talent. let me ask you about sort of how the campaign can sort of put a weird spotlight on how long sometimes it does take intelligence officials to get their stories straight because it can be erratic in the fog of an attack and in the fog of war. is there some fairness here? >> well, chuck, i think the fair

thing to do is to look at what the intelligence community has itself said about what it reported after the attack. i mean, this issue became an issue again when the candidates were asked about it -- the vice presidential candidates at the last debate and the vice president categorically denied things that were said to the contrary the very same day. that's why this has become an issue again, because of the discrepancies in the stories, different parts of the administration that have given. >> do you think there was a coverup? are you with senator graham and what would they be covering up? >> that's exactly what we need to know. i said the night of the presidential debate, that after the vice president said what he said, that it was going to be necessary for the white house to clarify this and to really tell everybody exactly what happened and why because that elevated this again. i mean, when the state department is testifying, look,

we -- >> you're not alleging a coverup. it sounds like you're alleging why did the white house not know the whole -- >> the point is, weapon don't know. this whole thing was a disaster for american foreign policy. we do know that it has exposed the weakness of the administration's leadership but we don't know exactly what happened and that's exactly what the administration has to clarify, especially since they have been saying different things. >> one of the issues that was a concern with libya, i remember at the time, and is a concern right now with syria, we know some reports out of there, it's the same issue, which is some of the freedom fighters, if you will, on the side of trying to get rid of the dictator, it was gadhafi, are not exactly friends of the united states. they seem to have ties to al qaeda and if we're advocating a policy of arming these folks, we're arming al qaeda, which has

been the concern of the administration and why they haven't jumped in on syria. mitt romney has suggested arming the freedom fighters in syria, has he not? >> right. yes. what you do is you need leadership. chuck, you lay a vision for where you want the country to go, in the direction or constitution of a democracy, protection of human rights, fighting terrorism, et cetera. you make it clear you will support elements that support that vision and oppose those that don't. you have people on the ground engaging and outreaching so you find out who wants what you want and who doesn't. and then you support those who do. i mean, this is -- it's basically -- it's leadership 101. >> but senator talent, in the fog of war, during the middle of a revolution, what do you intelligence officials do? lie detector tests to various people? i want to overturn assad. well, what do you think about al qaeda? how do you separate the weak

from the chat here? >> well, chuck, it's basic tools of diplomacy. this is the conduct of foreign policy. now, i will grant you that the administration didn't do that very effectively in libya. but when you lead from behind, when you sort of wait and do nothing or wait until something is two-thirds down the road, it's harder at that point. if you get out front of something, you anticipate what you're going to need, you develop the capabilities, you outreach, i mean, it's called the conduct of foreign policy, really, but i will agree with you that we haven't had that much of it in the last couple of years. >> senator talent, i wonder if you want to share any of your memories of serving with senator specter? >> he was a fighter for a number of different causes and an outstanding servant of the state of pennsylvania and of the

country. he's really going to want to be missed. arlen fought hard and beat cancer twice but it finally got him. he's going to be missed. >> yes. former senator of missouri and on behalf of the romney campaign, thank you for being here today. >> thank you, chuck. what's in store for wall street this week in the market rundown is next. plus, cashing in? we're following the money into explaining why these -- the most expensive house races are telling us exactly how the battle for congress is going. but, first, today's trivia question. how many presidents have last names that end in a vowel? tweet me the answer @chucktodd and @dailyrundown. ♪

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former senator arlen specter who made a party switch from democrat to republican in 2009 died from lymphoma. he's the longest serving senator in pennsylvania. in 1980 he rose up to become one of the most well-known moderates in senate history, or at least this era. before he arrived in washington, he already was making american history as part of the warren commission, investigating the assassination of president kennedy. a young specter is the man who authored the so-called magic bullet theory. he played a role in the highly contentious supreme court of

anita hill. he served during the impeachment of president clint by invoking scottish law to say not proven instead of guilty or not guilty during the trial in the senate. he wases al he was also on the show this past february. >> i intend to watch the campaign. i intend to make a decision on the merits. so i've had the unique opportunity to be inside of the caucuses of both the democrats and the republicans. i agree with john kennedy, sometimes party asks too much so i'm going to evaluate the situation on the merits. >> president obama tweeted this message, arlen specter changed lives through years of service in the senate with toughness, resolve and fierce independence. he will be missed. funeral services are set for tomorrow. vice president biden is planning

to attend. arlen specter was 82. well, there's a slew of third-quarter earnings today. opening bell is ringing as we speak. let's go to becky quick. what's the week going to look like? >> well, so far so good, at least if you're a bull. the opening bell is ringing and we're looking at green arrows. this is coming after the worst performance for the stock markets in four months that we turned in last week. at this point, the bulls could use good news. they got it from citigroup that came in with better than expected earnings and that helped boost things early on. the market is going to be up 25 point for the dow and we're also looking at better than expected news when it comes to retail sales. that was better than the 0.8% that had been expected but when you dig through the details, it's not all great news. gas prices went higher and that pushed up some of it. so we'll take a look at what's been happening right now. chuck, one of the stories that

caught my attention this morning, though s. that owner's of amazon's e-kindle reader could be getting refund for books that were bought between may 2010 and may 2012. these numbers could come in between a refund of 30 cents and $1.32. that makes you scratch your head. not going to be a big news for consumers because, again, 30 cents is less than the postage it would cost to write in about these things. stupid settlement but the book publishing industry has been a really tough one. >> that's for sure. becky quick, cnbc world headquarters, thank you much. >> up next, one of the most expensive house races this year tell us about the state of play for power. the daily rundown will be back in 30 seconds.

republicans gained 63 house seats in the last election. democrats would need to flip 65 if they are going to win the battle. we're looking at some of the most expensive races in the country and why the two sides are putting up so much cash. first up, ohio's 16th district redrawn for jim ranacy and john boehner is up against betty sutton, who is being supported by a trifecta of groups to a tune of nearly $1.95 million.

>> you're listening to a sound of money. betty sutton voted for billions of stimulus funding. all told, sutton voted with nancy pelosi 99% of the time and counting. >> organized labor helped put mark critz over the top and they are at it again in the general. republican challenger keith is being backed by the nrcc with ties to eric cantor. over in california, democrats are getting a second chance to help candidate ami bara. there is a three to one margin to tie lundgren to wall street and big oil. >> these are lungren's supporters. after all, he's one of them.

>> the middle class gets nothing with dan lungren but wall street has him right here. >> and trying to hang on as one of the last surviving southern democrats, district cut out to make him one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country. they have put $2 million into this race to point out that even if he's a blue dog, he's still a democrat. >> our state isn't doing well. our country's not doing well. >> mike mcintire votes a different way than what reflects what we want. >> when he gets to d.c., he's towing the democratic party line. >> those are nationwide races in terms of outside spending groups. they have spent just a shade under $20 million so far this year. with me is capitol hill correspondent lu correspondent luke russert. what is interesting is you have

a different part of the political world trying to make a statement. >> correct. >> and ohio and pennsylvania, it's always labor's last stand. at least that's the way they talk about it. >> well, you also have in ohio and pennsylvania and those two specific districts, look at ohio. that's a fellow businessman from that state. in pennsylvania you have rothfus backed by eric cantor. people will say, why are they so important? if democrats take back the house, they need sweep races like this to get to the 25. really, the 35. look who the chief backers are. folks with ties to cantor and boehner. you remember who your friends are. >> you do. and, look, we'll get to the overall picture here in a minute. we have to go to mcintyre. he's done everything to run away from the president. but he won't say who is he voting for. >> he's voted against the health

care bill. remember six years ago, guys who put him over the top, he's been very effective saying that all politics, despite the fact that there's tons of money, i have a high position on the agriculture committee. you don't want some rookie coming in here and getting us to the back of the line. >> he has hung in there more than people thought he would. >> right. >> and this race was written off six months ago. >> republicans that i've spoken to said that it's trending away from them. >> it's amazing. he really has worked hard. can republicans in california have a life? and i think dan lungren only one because of the republican wave. he survived and any other year he probably would have lost. >> $5.8 million in this race. democrats want dan lungren. this is the buck we want to have on our wall.

a lot of democrats say things but he's the reason that we have styrofoam cups in the house. >> it's all politics that is really, really -- >> and most likely than not, he's the most vulnerable redistricting republican. another race we've been talking about ohio, folks think that's going to come back around. >> let's say democrats sweep all four of these races, hold the two that they are trying to hold with mcintyre, they are still going to come up short but this set the table for 2014, does it not? >> it sets the table for 2014. you still have labor and leadership numbers and outside super pacs but more importantly i think it shows you which seats they consider still valuable after this redistricting process. so they are going to compete in pennsylvania for a long time. >> that's right. but if republicans are able to win in a presidential year in

places like this, ohio and pennsylvania, they may be off the map. >> you never know. >> for a midterm. >> you never know. >> luke russert, thank you. we've got to talk about michele bachmann but that's for another segment. three weeks to go. my panel joins me next for a preview of the important debate. it's a really important week. first, the white house soup of the day, nothing you think maybe but peanut flavor. it's cream of tomato. don't forget to follow the show on facebook. you're watching "the daily rundow" only on msnbc. in celebration of over 75 years of our government employees insurance company, or geico...as most of you know it. ...i propose savings for everyone! i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newcaster: breaking news. the gecko is demanding free pudding.

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>> we do not need characterizations like shame in this chamber from the senator of massachusetts. >> believe it or not, today, the daily flashback, it was this day in 1991 when after an intense, sometimes bitterly personal debate on the senate floor, clarence thomas was confirmed to the supreme court by a vote of just 52-48 with a bunch of southern democrats putting him over the top. all right, we're just under 36 hours until tuesday's town hall tussle. president obama and mitt romney are taking practice hits with their team today. both men want to be mr. october but the pressure especially on mr. obama to step up to the plate and hit one out of the park. you see, it's playoff time, can't you tell? joining me is communication director for rick santorum, robert traynham.

we have the poll out today, batt battleground, a whole bunch of stuff. i feel like there's no longer a but. this is a close race but this is a close race but the president has advantages. i feel like the last part of the sentence is no longer applicable. >> i feel like that's right but this is the week that we'll begin to understand whether that's correct or not. it does feel as if that but has been dropped and we're in a situation where it's a very close race but i think as a result of tomorrow night's debate, we'll have a good idea of what this race looks like. >> casey, how confident are the romney folks? >> i think they are being be cautiously confident. romney has become almost a different candidate since the debate. he's much more confident, making more stops at diners, chatting with voters. he's stepping out of some of the boxes that he put himself in. >> robert, the way that i look

at this debate, the fundamental thing separating mitt romney from the presidency is this ability to care about average people. >> uh-huh. >> that to me is, forget about anything else. that is the door that is locked. he unlocked the door but it's still not opening for him. it's a huge opportunity for the stereotype. >> that's right. and he's almost personalizing a lot of the stories on the campaign trail. we know tomorrow there is going to be 84, 88 undecided voters from new york. the question becomes whether or not this rich, very wealthy individual can connect with the average person out there and that says, you know what, i gave the president a chance four years ago. now i'm willing to change horses during the middle of the game. >> dan, the midwest is where romney has really struggled the most. ohio, wisconsin, those states, if the president carried all three, he'd have his 271. he didn't need any of the other states and it's that issue that is sort of connecting with the average person.

>> can the president use a town hall to exploit this or not? it seems like it's not the best -- might not be the best setting. >> well, the town hall format favors sympathy over aggressiveness and yet everything that's being said is that the president needs fto be aggressive. i suppose they are talking about how to strike that balance and makes points that you need to make and energize the base in way that you need to do but not go over a line in front of a live audience on this stage. >> you've seen him interact more with voters. the president has not done that. he doesn't even interact with the press. these are big events. he'll deliver pizzas and certain things like that. but he hasn't done town halls. it seems like the romney folks have been practicing out in the

open. >> i've been with romney for months now. he did this a lot during the primary town hall events. >> they stopped. >> they went away for a little while but there's been a long recognition that there's a format that he's most successful. most of his best events, when he's interacting with voters, has been in this town hall type of format. >> believe it or not, he's not very well scripted and the president is very well scripted. but when he's unscripted, that's when he does a pretty good job. >> dan, it goes back, the obama folks keep on saying, what is it -- why do you think he's going to be different? >> well, he just will be. you know, he knows he can't lay an egg again but -- >> what does that really mean? >> what does that mean? they had no plan in the first debate. romney had a plan. they had no plan other than to survive. they just thought, well, as long as we don't mess up too much, we're going to be ahead. >> we've only seen the president be truly aggressive in one debate that i can recall and

that was the debate against hillary clinton. >> and his back was against the wall and he lost new hampshire. >> that debate went so over the top that both of them pulled back once they clobbered one another. >> kasie, not a day has gone by in the last sick six days that romney or obama hasn't been in ohio. they are still behind in ohio, aren't they? >> well, that's why you've seen portman stepping into a more aggressive -- well, part of the reason. over the weekend he has been at romney's side constantly, constantly, constantly. >> is this the chief of staff we're looking at all of a sudden? this happens. george h.w. bush, it was the bonding on the campaign trail. this stuff does matter, right? >> there's no question they bonded but they bonded before

the vice presidential debate. >> they bonded but not in the way that they are now. >> portman lhas been by his sid. >> i don't know how you can win without ohio. >> you can but -- >> every trend matters until it doesn't. missouri with the longest one, delaware was the longest one. >> how many republicans -- how many of you think that romney can win the presidency without ohio? >> theoretically or practically? >> i am startingi -- here's the thing, i'm starting to move away from practical and move to theoretical. how many presidents have had last names that end in a vowel? the answer is five. president obama and he was the first one since calvin coolidge

and we don't count kennedy. i know what you learned in first grade, i, o, u, and sometimes why. we're not doing the y business, guys. okay? and the president was the first one that didn't end with an e. e-mail dailyrundown@msnbc.com. e-mail us. we'll be right back. my insurance rates are probably gonna double.

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up until wednesday night i just thought, i don't know what i'm going to do for the next month. >> because why? >> he was just a walking sham bling mound of -- of -- of -- of meekness, you know? even the people who liked him didn't seem to be behind him that strongly. now he's the man. now he has these long, luscious coattails and everybody is jumping on board. >> that is stephan colbert doing something we rarely ever see. he stepped out of character to

give his take on mitt romney. let's bring back our panel. robert, you've got to give him credit there in that he was saying what we've been saying. >> sure. the whole thing where before that first debate everybody was wondering, is this race about to be over. >> right. now look at where things are. >> look, i've got to give him credit. he pretty much nailed it. what romney was going to show up last week? and we saw the moderate romney show up. the question becomes will the moderate romney show up again tomorrow. at the end of the day, i know i got in trouble for saying this, romney is not a conservative, he is a a moderate. >> techno republican. >> he has no emotion. the facts will lead him where he is. >> what does the campaign say when this whole -- did he become more moderate or is he just bounding moderate? they're fearful of that whole thing a little bit, but it seems as if the conservatives are letting him do it. >> there was a sense among

conservatives that when he did so well at the debate that, you know, that was sort of brushed aside. >> they don't care what he said. >> right. the atmosphere on the plane the day before the debate and the day after the debate was night and day. >> i couldn't figure it out. jim massena the campaign manager for the obama campaign put out memos which romney will show up. will they go at him as a flip-flopper or a conservativec? >> i think they have to go after him as a con ser va stiff. >> they've been emt itted on flip-flops. yet it's not worked this year on romney as much as others thought it would. >> no. one of the issues in this campaign all along for romney is does the nominee define the party or does the party define the nominee? i think romney has been more

defined by the party. >> robert. >> i'm on tonight, all politics. >> otis 124. >> if you missed it over the weekend, my colleagues have an excellent every weekend be series. >> mr. iowa. >> shout out to all the road warriors. three weeks and a day left. >> this is normally a road warrior here. >> this is one here. >> couple of days off. check the mail. make sure the refrigerator is running. >> piling up. >> that's the scary thing. >> been at it for 18 months. the end is here. >> you've got it. that's it for this edition of"." we're here in new york ahead of the big debate. the most important debate until the next one. this one does matter. coming up next, chris jansing. bye-bye. >> announcer: business travel forecast is brought to you by a

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